Last month, Robert DuBoise was released after spending nearly 37 years in prison for a crime he did not commit — and today, Robert was exonerated from all charges.
Robert DuBoise following his exoneration after 37 years on Monday, Sept. 14, 2020, in Tampa, Florida. (Image: Casey Brooke Lawson/The Innocence Project)
He was arrested in October 1983 for the rape and murder of a 19-year-old woman in Tampa, Florida. He was convicted based solely on the pseudo-science of bite mark evidence and an unreliable jailhouse informant’s testimony, and he spent three years on death row.
Last month, Robert was released after new DNA testing of crime scene evidence that was thought to have been destroyed excluded him as the assailant and identified another individual.
In light of the clear injustice in Robert’s case and the discreditation of bite mark analysis, Tampa’s Conviction Review Unit (CRU) announced today that it will collaborate with the Innocence Project to review Hillsborough County cases in which bite mark evidence was used to secure a conviction. This will be the first investigation of its kind initiated by a prosecutor’s office.
“I hope that my story helps others to keep fighting to prove their innocence,” Robert said. “I can’t get back the decades that I lost, but I’m going to try to rebuild my life with my family. It won't be easy. I am just so grateful that my voice was heard and the truth is out there.”
The Innocence Project exonerates the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reforms the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice. www.innocenceproject.org
